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A Dangerous Fortune
Epic in its scale, A Dangerous Fortune tells of the dramatic highs and lows of the wealthy Pilaster family from the bestselling author of T he Pillars of the Earth , Ken Follett. By the 1860s, the Pilasters are one of the world's greatest banking families, with connections that reach from the City of London to far-afield colonies. However, as the family grow ever richer in the shadow of oppression and tragedy, their very future is threatened - by the self-same ambition and greed that first earned them their fortune. 'A full-blooded melodrama, complete with moustache-twirling villains, saintly heroes, wronged women, and a lot of plot' Irish Times 'Banks, brothels, and a high body count . . . it's all there' Financial Times 'A compulsively readable, enjoyable thriller-cum-saga' Sunday Times
- GenresFiction
578 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2008
25 people want to read
About the author
Ken Follett
600 books59k followersKen Follett is one of the world’s most successful authors. Over 170 million copies of the 36 books he has written have been sold in over 80 countries and in 33 languages.
Born on June 5th, 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a tax inspector, Ken was educated at state schools and went on to graduate from University College, London, with an Honours degree in Philosophy – later to be made a Fellow of the College in 1995.
He started his career as a reporter, first with his hometown newspaper the South Wales Echo and then with the London Evening News. Subsequently, he worked for a small London publishing house, Everest Books, eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director.
Ken’s first major success came with the publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978. A World War II thriller set in England, this book earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It remains one of Ken’s most popular books.
In 1989, Ken’s epic novel about the building of a medieval cathedral, The Pillars of the Earth, was published. It reached number one on best-seller lists everywhere and was turned into a major television series produced by Ridley Scott, which aired in 2010. World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, proved equally popular when it was published in 2007.
Ken’s new book, The Evening and the Morning, will be published in September 2020. It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth and is set around the year 1,000, when Kingsbridge was an Anglo-Saxon settlement threatened by Viking invaders.
Ken has been active in numerous literacy charities and was president of Dyslexia Action for ten years. He was chair of the National Year of Reading, a joint initiative between government and businesses. He is also active in many Stevenage charities and is President of the Stevenage Community Trust and Patron of Home-Start Hertfordshire.
Ken, who loves music almost as much as he loves books, is an enthusiastic bass guitar player. He lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, with his wife Barbara, the former Labour Member of Parliament for Stevenage. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren and two Labradors.
Born on June 5th, 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a tax inspector, Ken was educated at state schools and went on to graduate from University College, London, with an Honours degree in Philosophy – later to be made a Fellow of the College in 1995.
He started his career as a reporter, first with his hometown newspaper the South Wales Echo and then with the London Evening News. Subsequently, he worked for a small London publishing house, Everest Books, eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director.
Ken’s first major success came with the publication of Eye of the Needle in 1978. A World War II thriller set in England, this book earned him the 1979 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It remains one of Ken’s most popular books.
In 1989, Ken’s epic novel about the building of a medieval cathedral, The Pillars of the Earth, was published. It reached number one on best-seller lists everywhere and was turned into a major television series produced by Ridley Scott, which aired in 2010. World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, proved equally popular when it was published in 2007.
Ken’s new book, The Evening and the Morning, will be published in September 2020. It is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth and is set around the year 1,000, when Kingsbridge was an Anglo-Saxon settlement threatened by Viking invaders.
Ken has been active in numerous literacy charities and was president of Dyslexia Action for ten years. He was chair of the National Year of Reading, a joint initiative between government and businesses. He is also active in many Stevenage charities and is President of the Stevenage Community Trust and Patron of Home-Start Hertfordshire.
Ken, who loves music almost as much as he loves books, is an enthusiastic bass guitar player. He lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, with his wife Barbara, the former Labour Member of Parliament for Stevenage. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren and two Labradors.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 5, 2012
Superb, Enchanting and Highly Memorable are just a few words or phrases that would rightly describe A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett. I have recently read a couple of novels by Rafael Sabatini and couldn’t help but compare the form and content with this one. The older novels were much wordier so they hovered around a subject, like bees around a spring blossom, without actually touching the subject intended. Follett paints a picture with bright colors and well defined lines and avoids the haze of Sabatini. Love is the main catalyst in the development of most novels by both authors but where the actual acts of that love is totally missing in one, is honest and open in the other. A trait of Sabatini is to keep the reader hanging for twenty-score pages before love is finally declared by the story’s male and female protagonists. Follett weaves a tale where this love ingrains itself in the basic fiber of the story.
A Dangerous Fortune is about the London banking world in the 1870’s. Class and acquired fortunes play a big part in this tale of love and social turmoil, exposing the flaws in both. Society behaves at this time with an equanimity that would be very strange today. Ken Follett paints his characters in the mind of the reader as adeptly as any old master applied them to canvas. These characters come to life and don’t walk in the fog of confusion that often occurs by other writers. The discombobulating array of characters remains clear and vivid throughout this tale of upper-class backstabbing and stratagem. I found myself intrigued equally by both protagonist and villain. While reading I would suddenly stop with reading in futile search of a diversion as I knew something was about to happen and this act could somehow postpone the event or allow someone a few precious more moments of life.
(P.S. The edition showed above isn't the copy I read. I read a 2008 paperback edition but it isn't listed by Goodreads.)
A Dangerous Fortune is about the London banking world in the 1870’s. Class and acquired fortunes play a big part in this tale of love and social turmoil, exposing the flaws in both. Society behaves at this time with an equanimity that would be very strange today. Ken Follett paints his characters in the mind of the reader as adeptly as any old master applied them to canvas. These characters come to life and don’t walk in the fog of confusion that often occurs by other writers. The discombobulating array of characters remains clear and vivid throughout this tale of upper-class backstabbing and stratagem. I found myself intrigued equally by both protagonist and villain. While reading I would suddenly stop with reading in futile search of a diversion as I knew something was about to happen and this act could somehow postpone the event or allow someone a few precious more moments of life.
(P.S. The edition showed above isn't the copy I read. I read a 2008 paperback edition but it isn't listed by Goodreads.)
September 18, 2015
Follett set out to write an interesting plot line with (honestly) many dastardly characters and tragic situations. Yet what made the book engaging is how the better characters progressed and weathered the storms and came out better for it. Yet the character's actions were believable, not trite, moral-bearing stories.
I always wonder with condensed books what I'm missing, but this book felt complete the way it was. Also, some of the actions were so horrible, I'm glad it was over in 180 pages.
I always wonder with condensed books what I'm missing, but this book felt complete the way it was. Also, some of the actions were so horrible, I'm glad it was over in 180 pages.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews